A Debt Repaid
by Emmint
Summary: Matt is returning to Dodge from Hays after delivering a prisoner to be hung. On the way he falls dangerously ill, Buck carries him safely into the camp of a Texas trail drive. Ted Walsh owes Matt his life and takes care of him getting him to Dodge.


US Marshal Matt Dillon was on his way back to Dodge City from Hays having delivered a young man to Hays to hang for murder, a young man Matt had thought him too young to suffer that punishment for killing a father who'd beaten him nearly every day of his life. The boy had said that Matt didn't look too good he'd thanked Matt for treating him like a man instead of like a prisoner. Matt wiped his brow, sweat ran down his forehead, dripping into his eyes, his head swam, his vision altered between clear and blurred. He knew he was coming down with something similar to the ague, then he blacked out completely slumping forward in the saddle. Buck, shifted nervously but kept going plodding on, he plodded right into the drover's camp. Bill Withers jumped up from his bedroll, he stopped Buck just as Matt slipped from the saddle, he dropped the reins and caught Matt. "Who is it, Bill?" Cookie asked.

"It's Matt Dillon, Marshal of Dodge," he felt the heat coming from Matt's body. "He's burning up with fever, get some cool water," Ted led Buck to the picket line, he stripped the saddle and brushed his coat before giving him some feed.

"You done real good for the marshal, Buck," Ted said leaving Buck to settle down. "Boss, that horse is smart."

"How close are we to the river?"

"It's about an hour away."

"Break camp, we're moving there. Tell those hands on night watch."

"What are we going to do, Boss?"

"Quickest way I know of getting a fever down is to strip him and submerge him in the river only thing is that it could kill him just as easily as his being too hot," the hands broke camp quietly Bill mounted and they handed Matt up to be cradled in Bill's arms, Ted once mounted led Buck on a lead rope, they rode to the river, where they set up camp again. Bill, Cookie and Ted stripped Matt down and waded into the water with him, forcing him under several times before carrying his shivering body back up the bank they wrapped him in blankets and found room in their supply wagon for Matt to lie as comfortably as possible. Ted fastened his horse with Buck to the tailgate and stayed in the wagon with Matt.

"What do you think could be wrong with him?"

"I don't know it could be anything," Ted forced some water passed Matt's lips, "You figure on taking care of him, Ted?"

"Yeah, before I moved down to Texas and joined your outfit, Matt saved my life. I was passing through Dodge, I won a fair bit at Stud poker and someone tried to kill me to get it, Matt was there, Matt had to kill him to stop him."

"And you figure you owe him?"

"Wouldn't you?"

"Yeah, suppose I would. I'll get one of the guys driving the remuda to take over the drag," Ted nodded and Bill left to arrange everything. Ted bathed Matt's face, neck and arms, throughout the night. Bill came to the supply wagon in the morning, Matt looked flushed with fever. "Is he any better?"

"No, his fever's climbing again."

"Damn, what can we do now?"

"I don't know, Bill, I just don't know, we're still too far out from Dodge for Doc Adams to be able to get here. If we try dumping him in the river again we'll kill him for sure. I'm thinking that if Cookie takes one of the water barrels and what supplies he'll need I can get the wagon into Dodge by noon."

"Yeah, it's going to be evening before we get the herd to the quarantine line. You can get the wagon across on its own but the herd has to wait two weeks. We'll pack what supplies we need on some of the horses in the remuda," the hands came and removed some of the supplies they left two canteens of water for Ted and Matt. Ted whipped the horses into a canter and drove the wagon straight for the quarantine line.

They stopped him at the quarantine line, at first they were reluctant to let him through but then they recognised the marshal's horse. "What are you doing with the marshal's horse?" Newly asked.

"Matt's sick, I've got him in the wagon," they looked in the wagon, "I've got to get him to Doc Adams," Ted said, they relented and let him go. He now raced the wagon down the road into Dodge not pulling up until he got to Doc Adams's office. He saw Festus hurrying towards him, but he didn't want to wait to talk to him. Ted dragged Matt out of the wagon into his arms and carried him up the stairs which was hard going because the marshal was such a big man. He knocked Doc's door, Doc let him in.

"Matt, get him on the table, what happened?"

"His horse carried him right into our camp, we tried everything we knew including wetting him down in the Arkansas, but his temperature just climbed right back up."

"At least you tried," Festus burst in just then, he stopped seeing Matt on Doc's table.

"You think you got a right to near on kill everbody on Front Street," Festus said.

"Quit it, Festus, if he hadn't Matt would be dead, and I'm still not sure he'll live."

"He don't look too good at thet, where'd you find him?"

"His horse found us, came right into camp. I've been tending to him since then. Bill Withers he's the trail boss, he'll be up round the quarantine line by now. When I left the drive this morning he figured they'd let me across being as I'd be in the wagon. Anyway, I got that team hustling."

"Yes, Festus, and it's a good job he did."

"What's wrong with him, Doc?" Doc knew Festus well enough to know that Festus was so fond of Matt that he worried about him.

"I don't know, Festus, I just don't know. There just doesn't seem to be any other symptoms, just the fever. All I can do is keep him as comfortable as possible, try all that I know to reduce the fever and pray."

"What about the twins and Mary?"

"He got a family, is Mary his wife?"

"He got the twins from a woman he knew a long time ago. Mary isn't his wife, he found her half dead on the prairie among her dead kinfolk, she'd been raped and beaten. She adopted him," Doc said, "made him her father. She couldn't speak for a while after it happened but she's alright now. She tends to the kids for him," Festus was watching Ted, he approved of Ted the way he watched Matt, the concern in eyes showed that he knew Matt.

"How long you known, Matthew?"

"A long time ago when I was on my way down to Texas, I came through Dodge. I won a fair bit at Stud poker, later someone tried to kill me, Matt was there, had to kill the man to stop him. I figured I owe Matt this is my way of paying him back."

"You said you were in Dodge some time ago?" Doc asked," Ted nodded, "your name wouldn't be Ted Walsh, would it?" Ted nodded.

"It would, I don't see Chester anywhere," Ted said.

"Chester got married, he's moved to California. Now, Quint, you remember Quint?"

"Sure do, blacksmith here."

"He was, he went to California made some money and returned, he said California was too dull," Doc said.

"Has anyone told, Miss Kitty?"

"Festus, you better go fetch Miss Kitty," Doc said, Festus left immediately. "Ted, can you help me get Matt into the backroom there?" Ted nodded and between him and Doc they moved Matt into the backroom, putting him into the bed there, Miss Kitty arrived not long after.

"Doc, what's wrong with him?" Kitty asked.

"I don't know, Kitty, I just don't know. It could be something he's eaten, there's any number of things that could cause this. He was certainly fit when he left here. He could have eaten something here, and it's taken this long to develop I don't know," Kitty sat on a chair near the bed she took Matt's hand gently caressing it. "Festus, I'm going to need a lot of warm water, I'm going to get this fever to break if it kills me. If he can last four or five days, he has a chance of recovering."

"Doc, you said it could of been something he ate, surely if he'd eaten it here in Dodge, others would have got sick?" Ted asked.

"Yes, that's possible. Festus get a telegraph off to Hays find out if they've got people with similar symptoms."

"You bet ya," Festus left heading straight to the telegrapher's office. "Barney, you heard about Matthew?"

"Yes, how is he?"

"Not good, Doc thinks it might be something he ate. He wants to know if Hays has got people with the same symptoms. Just fever."

"I'll do it right now," Barney operated the telegraph key, tapping out the message. They didn't have to wait long. "Here's the reply, Festus. Hays says they have eight people down with it, seems they all bought contaminated bacon from La Crosse and La Crosse has about ten people down with it. Everyone has survived, Doc in Hays said to burn the meat bought at La Crosse," Barney wrote the message down and handed it to Festus who took it straight to Doc's.

"There you are Hays has eight and La Crosse ten down with it seems they bought contaminated bacon. Matt must have needed some," Doc said, Barney came running up just then.

"Doc, got another message from Hays seems the deputy at Hays overheard young Tony Bell tell Matt he didn't look so good and he noted that Matt left straight after the hanging."

"That's it, Festus if there's any bacon in Matt's saddlebags, burn it," Doc said. Kitty called out to Doc calling him into the backroom, Matt was moving restlessly but when Doc touched him he found his skin was rapidly cooling, Doc sighed, the fever had broken. "Thank God, his fever's broken. He's going to be fine, Matt's strength has pulled him through," everybody sighed none of them could imagine Dodge without him nor did they want to. Dodge without Matt would be unthinkable.


End file.
